Kalakar Qasbah: the Art of Healing

The Art of Healing is an AHRC-funded research project investigating the potential forarts activities and art-based therapies to support the mental health and wellbeing of children affected by conflict. Working with the Dolphin International School and 30 students (ages 11 to 15) in the town of Pulwama in the Kashmir Valley, India, we supported them to create a ‘Kalakar Qasbah’ (artists’ collective). Students participated in drama, visual arts, puppetry, drawing and many other creative activities. Working with a team of experts, they produced videos, photography, songs, performances, murals, puppet shows and remade their school as a place for artistic and emotional exploration and healing.

We evalutated the impact of working with the school and the children, developed an intervention model for testing elsewhere and a programme theory using realist evaluation methods. For more information please see: https://artofhealing.org.uk/